Preparing for the Public Hanging

Those of a nervous disposition should not be afraid to look at the pictures.

A hanging has already taken place at lock 36, and trial hangings are in progress at lock 41. The public are invited on Saturday and Sunday between 10 and 2.30 p.m.

I'm very pleased with the pictures, showing details that aren't usually visible. More details to follow.

Piglet and Pooh

Blogger was playing up yesterday evening so I left the final photos until today. As you see from this sentence my computer consultant has done his stuff - my "L" key is working again! Shame, my difficulty amused some of you!

So here are Pooh and Piglet staked out, seen just before Honey Street - is there a link here?

- ouch!

This is the fat boat (otherwise known as a wide beam narrowboat, a contradiction in terms me thinks!) we saw at Honey Street, built by Bluewater Boats. I am sure it is very nice and roomy inside, but we will stick to our slim (narrow) boat.

Pewsey And Photos

At last - a fully functioning laptop thanks to my on-board computer consultant! As you can see we are still at Pewsey! However a 4 hour cruise tomorrow will see us back in Devizes Marina for a bit.

Oh dear, spoke too soon - the "L" key on my keyboard has just come off - so I must try to avoid words with that member of the A - Z in it. That is hard, so if this sounds a bit strange, I offer my excuses. It might be fun to try to guess what words I am having to get around and not use in this post.

As I write I can hear big guns on the army practice range near here - you know the one near Stonehenge and the A303. Can't name it it - has 2 of that member of the A - Z in it! Get the map out! The wind must be in the right direction, I hope it is not a night exercise as one shook the boat just now.

Anyway I am going to put up the missing photos from our trip here Saturday just gone!

Our Friday evening mooring at Bridge 127 (Bridge name has 4 of broken key in it - so see previous post or find a famous guide to the K & A!)




John putting a bit of red oxide on the stern - the first of a few "patching ups" to do




Fishermen camping out - is this a 5 star fishing trip?




It is sad to be untying the ropes tomorrow but we can return here again soon.

Marmaduke has a narrow escape

Having had Severn Valley on our short list of boat builders, and having been lucky enough to get our refundable deposit returned, John and Cathy's nightmare experience has had us on the edge of our seats over the last couple of days. Their narrow escape with Marmaduke, following news of SVBC going into administration has truly brought the best out of the online boating community.

See for example:

• John & Cathy - Having a narrowboat built
  
• Canalworld Forums
• Maffi's blog
• Narrowboat Bones
  

P.S. Sorry yesterday's pictures haven't all appeared yet - I'm sure you're all dying to see Pooh and Piglet - today's been another hectic day, but I haven't forgotten - keep watching the blog.

Cruising, All Cannings To pewsey

5.58 miles, 1hr 59 mins 59 secs, 0 locks, 2.79 lm/hr

What a sunny day! After waffles, fruit, bacon and maple syrup for breakfast we were ready for anything! As it was so sunny and we were against a reasonable mooring – wooden hard – John did some touching up on the stern. I did a couple of cleaning jobs inside and took some photos.
After an early lunch, (eaten in the cratch with the cover open, in January?) we set off and cruised towards Pewsey. Strangely there were no boats moving today, although many of the moored boats had occupants.

We disturbed lots of fishermen however. They were all good-natured and some were even “camping out”! Piglet and Pooh were on spike duty, although I think Pooh has lost his ears!

Honey Street had boats moored as usual, amongst them this fat "fat" boat. We were glad we didn’t meet them on the go, as they would take up the entire width of the canal in some places. Who says that wide beam boats shouldn’t be charged more for their licence? It was made by Bluewater Boats – a builder we investigated with a view to buying a shell a number of years ago.

As we travelled John was updating Water Explorer as we reached bridges, wharfs etc. At the moment we cannot do it on our mobile phones but hope to do so eventually – something to do with the phone we think, not Orange. You can see the result on the right – “where is Epiphany”. The journey took us 1 second less than 2 hours!

At Pewsey Wharf we emptied the cassette and then moved further along to moor – a little out from the bank so had to use our “plank”. The sides of the canal on the towpath side are eroding and could be dangerous if you rely on stepping on the edge. Epiphany will only moor about a 2 feet out, even with a 2-foot draft.

So we will be in the Waterfront pub tonight (and tonight) – we are becoming “regulars”! This was yesterdays post but I am having problems with my laptop connecting to the web so I have to book John's! I will put up the photos when he has sorted out my web connection!

Moored just above Pewsey Wharf.

Important Information

4.04 Miles, 0 locks, 2 swing bridges, 2.21 lm/hr.

This morning the sun shone briefly. We pottered on the boat, cleaning the bow cockpit before stacking the new logs and bags of coal (Stovesse) under the table and gunnels. I did a quick sweep through inside. The advantage of having Amtico flooring is there is no vacuuming, just a dustpan and brush, and then if necessary a mop through with a damp mop.

An early lunch and we loosed the ropes and escaped the marina! It was breezy but there were still some sunny periods. The sensor from John's weather station read 10 degrees and 86% humidity. The humidity is a little high as there is a bit of condensation in it!


We passed 4 boats on the move. Many more moored, of course: some still in the same place as last time we were out! As we passed the disused swing bridge - Horton Fields Swing Bridge we wondered if these flags were left by the aliens who create the crop circles in the summer!



We cruised for about 2 hours and moored near two of the Bath Narrowboats guys. It is a bit windy now and the satellite dish has moved, so out into the dark goes John to realign it! Not that there is much on TV this evening.

Talking TV, I hope lots of people watched “A Boy Called Alex” on Thursday evening. What a wonderful lad! He has Cystic Fibrosis, attends Eton and is wonderfully gifted musically. What an inspiration he is. We were very emotional watching it, as we know what a battle CF can be, as Fiona has the same genetic disease. She has been very fortunate, despite a prognosis that she would not live beyond her teens. Thanks to dedicated parents, wonderful doctors and a lot of prayer, you readers will know that she is very much alive and kicking!

Alex has a hard decision to make – he will need a lung transplant soon. Again we know the situation. Fiona was fortunate to have a lung transplant nearly 12 years ago. What an amazing system organ donation is. Everyone should be aware of what a difference it makes – the Gift of Life when nearly all hope is gone. It is a very difficult decision for relatives to make when someone has died, so it is important that they know about organ donation and join the organ donation register. Go on - do it today, if you are not on it already.

Carry the card and let your relatives know

We are eternally grateful as a family that somewhere in the UK another family felt it an important gift and donated their son’s lungs to enable Fiona to watch our son grow up and become independent. Now we can cruise the waterways: our ambition for many years.

Moored at All Cannings Bridge 127.

Canal Trading and Oxfordshire Churches

To continue the saga of our weekend.

We also took a detour to a village called Langridge. There we found a really pretty church that is very well looked after and worth a visit. It has a Norman arch to the chancel

and many interesting features including the Jacobean pulpit with its soundboard canopy


and choir stalls.



The weather was not brilliant over the weekend and around Cropredy there is still evidence of floods.


Saturday morning we toured the local Parish churches, taking pictures for the website "A Church Near You". All Saints at Great Bourton, St James the Great at Claydon and All Saints at Mollington. The village of Great Bourton has a pub, buses and a church!

We cannot stand being indoors all the time - probably because living on a boat means that we are out in all weathers at times - so on Saturday afternoon, despite the rain, we decided to explore the shopping outlet in Bicester. It is mostly designer labels and there is much reduced. However we only window shopped as we are not in the habit of buying designer labels! Also I think it is the type of place that you would shop for a specific thing hoping for a discount.

By Sunday the weather was better. After the service at Great Bourton church we popped into Banbury on our way to Sunday lunch in a pub a few miles away.

As we parked in the short stay car park at Castle Quay we spotted a number of narrowboats moored. In fact the canal had more moored boats than we have ever seen - more like it probably is in the summer.

Three narrow boats particularly caught our interest.

Lisa from The Narrow Shop follows our blog so it was great to meet her and she sells delicious ginger marmalade amongst other goodies. See the link on our blog links on the right or click here. Lisa is also a blogger and gave us an honourable mention!

The second boat was


The Cheese Boat. We also had a good chat, tasted all the cheeses and bought the ginger spice cheese - absolute yum! For the link click here or on our links on the right.

The third boat was


Nb Sanity? Note the ? - She is the first Sanity and not Nb Sanity on our blog list! To those in the know this is the Fudge Boat - delicious fudge made and sold by Heather and Tony. We had a good chat about trading on the canal and the delights of cruising. Thanks for all the interesting info Heather and Tony!

So all in all we had a really good weekend, friends, food, and canals. The best combination possible!

Exploring Off The Beaten Track

Yes Folks we are still around! Just had a weekend away with friends, coupled with 2 hospital appointments! Back now snug and warm on our narrowboat Epiphany. Glad to be home.

On our travels in the gas guzzler we always seem to find that all roads lead to canals! This trip was no exception. We made one big mistake though - we forgot to put wellies or walking shoes in the car, thinking wrongly that we would not be walking or exploring. When will we learn!

So after visiting RUH at Bath we set off for Banbury, or more correctly Great Bourton, just up the road from Cropredy on the Oxford canal. However we had most of the day to get there so "went off the beaten track". As my Father used to say we "went bush".

We ended up following the road to here. Any guesses as to what we found?


The house above was primarily built to house the men working on a special project in 1786 and had large communal rooms for sleeping and eating. It was gutted by fire and rebuilt in 1952.

The Tunnel referred to is Sapperton Tunnel on the Thames and Severn canal. Did you guess or know?

It is a very well known part of the Cotswold Canals restoration by the CC Trust. This and the Stroudwater Navigation will join up the Cotswold Ring linking the River Thames to Saul Junction. The tunnel is one of the longest in the country and the history of the canal is very interesting.

The section of the canal at Coates is called Kings Reach. The canal is lined with concrete and despite the weed the water is very clear.


At this eastern end of the tunnel the portal was built in 1789 in a classical design.

The western end at Daneway is of Gothic design. We went looking for this and found the pub at that end. We did not visit the portal as it involved a walk along a very muddy path and we were not sure we could find it!

We were really glad we found the tunnel, and after taking all the photos continued on our way! During the weekend we had some other interesting encounters - more of which tomorrow!

If you would like to see more photos click here

Stoppages And Floods

Due to lock repairs on the Caen Hill Flight, Devizes locks are closed from the 7th Jan - 7 March 2008.

For our Sunday walk we took the car, parked and wandered down the flight. This notice greeted us at lock 42.


There were only a few walkers on the towpath as it was a very grey, cold day so we had the flight almost to ourselves. The cafe at the top lock was open - hoping for some trade but I think they had very few customers that day.

We could see the main works in the distance at lock 36 from lock 39 where the notice warning of the narrow entrance next lock down is clearly displayed.


In the past we have seen a few problems as a result of this narrow entrance. I will leave it to your imagination!

Unfortunately below the lock there is some bank slippage.


It was very interesting to see what they are doing at lock 36 and the work associated with it.

This photo of lock 35 shows how important it is to be aware of cills in locks, particularly going down.

Perhaps hire companies should show photos like this to hirers to illustrate the hazards.

There are more detailed photos of all the work on the flight here. We shall go to see the gates put in place on 2nd or 3rd of February.

Subject of the moment is the weather! We had torrential rain during the night and this morning. There were warnings of floods and pictures of the new flood defences at Upavon on the River Severn which was badly flooded in August. As was Tewkesbury further down the river. Fortunately we hear this evening that the defences controlled the floods.

Many drains cannot take the volume of run off and rain and the roads around here are flooded in places. I came through 4 floods on my way home from Marlborough via
View Larger Map They were not too deep but I am always nervous driving through them. As I was following another car I could gauge how deep they were, but one had a wave that came over the bonnet. I was travelling slowly but fast enough to push the water away a bit!

Some pictures of the flooding is on the BBC Wiltshire site

Another front full of rain has just gone through, but the forecast is for a better day tomorrow thank goodness.

The Joys Of Living On A Narrowboat

One of the joys of living on a narrowboat is taking the opportunities as they arrive. To cruise, to relax, to do so called boat jobs, to learn new skills and to find friendly people who are willing to help.

What a lovely day - for once the weather forecasters got it right. But no cruising for us though, as it was the first fine day for ages it was engine service day.

Whilst Epiphany was being built John took a RYA diesel engine course in anticipation of doing our own servicing. Our first service was done by Richard here at the marina with John observing to brush up his knowledge. Now it was time for our second service.

One of the guys - Dave the taxi, we call him, who moors his boat at Pewsey Wharf offered to come and supervise whilst John did all the work. Dave is a qualified mechanical engineer so we had full confidence in his expertise.

So having bought all the oil, filter etc. John arranged for Dave to come over today.

As Epiphany is a trad accessing the engine (a Shire 45) and appropriate parts of it can be tricky, particularly for someone who is 6 foot 5 inches!

However Bath Narrowboats and John thought about this at design and build stages and as you can see it is possible, helped by our 4 foot hatch.

So with Dave observing and making helpful suggestions the oil was changed, so too the filter. Other jobs included recharging the stern greaser, "cleaning out" the air filter, and tightening an alternator belt.


The engine hole was pretty clean but John spent a while cleaning up afterwards and feels it is now about 75% cleaner with a bit more to do and probably a paint job in the warmer weather.

So job well done, in a couple of hours - very satisfying and much cheaper!


Thanks Dave.

And me? Was I any help? I had my own jobs to do but supplied them both with "real" frothy coffee. My jobs included making some bread, sweeping through the saloon, galley and bedroom, airing the cratch and washing off the cratch window. Oh I nearly forgot - and reading the February Waterways World which arrived today! Hurrah, I got to it before John!

Extreme Sports

We have invented a new sport! Possibly exclusively for those who have a cross bed on their boat! If you watched Cranford on the Beeb you may remember Miss Mattie's bedtime routine with a ball to check that there was no one hiding under the bed.

To join in our Miss Mattie inspired sport you will need a cross bed with space under it, a wooden or laminate floor, a pair of slippers and a desire to get over the bed when it is down for sleeping!

Here are some examples of the type of equipment required.

Cross bed stowed during the day.



Cross bed down for sleeping.



Suitable types of slippers include these blue ones. Please note, however that the colour is not a requirement for success.


Here are the instructions for the sport in steps!! They include a Health and Safety warning.

Please note - Individuals taking part do so at their own risk. We do not take responsibility for any injuries received by any persons during the duration of practice or play, regardless of age, gender, religion, sexual orientation or ethnic origin.

To Play:
Step 1. Make sure you are wearing your slippers
Step 2. Make sure no one is standing the other side of the bed
Step 3. Make sure that you are far enough away from the bed to prevent you hurting your leg
Step 4. Aim one leg and foot in the correct direction towards the other side of the bed
Step 5. Bring your leg backwards and flick it forward with enough force to send your slipper flying under the bed
Step 6. Repeat steps 2 - 5 with the other leg
Step 6. Climb over the bed
Step 7. Put your slippers back on

Warning - if your slippers are not the other side of the bed you will have to crawl under to get them and may hurt your back. We remind you of the previous Health and Safety Warning.

Absence of one or more slippers mean that you do not have sufficient skill to win and need to practice until you do. If you still are losing it may be that you have the wrong equipment and need to buy the correct type of slippers, bed or flooring.

This sport can also be played on land, however you may need to use your imagination to pretend that there is not another way to get round the bed.

Epiphany Expedition

On Epiphany Sunday we took a walk, by the Kennet and Avon Canal needless to say! It was rather overcast and grey but we needed some exercise!

Since we have been on the K & A we have puzzled about one particular bridge - a swing bridge, namely Bishops Cannings swing bridge, number 133. Here it is (in the distance) on a busy August day.


There is a caravan site there, and some sort of access road, but where did this road come out? Looking at the map it looked like somewhere in the village of Bishops Cannings.

So on Sunday we set off in the car to find the exact location and see how easy it was to get to the canal bridge from the village. John "followed his nose" - he is very good at it! He had an idea that it was a farm that owned the caravan site as it was only a very small site.

We found it!

Unfortunately there is no public access by car, unless you are staying in a caravan, booked through the farm. However there was pedestrian access. So we parked and set off, arriving at the swing bridge in about 5 minutes. Sorted! Now the mystery is solved.

So crossing the bridge we wandered along the towpath for a while. Passing a few moored boats we walked about half a mile before turning back. Only two boats were on the move, both "local" boats, Dragonwyck and Valley Forge.


Trevor and Dale, who own Dragonwyck (above), were on their way to Devizes Wharf, to be based there whilst Dale did her stint in the chandlery here at Devizes Marina. We did our good deed for the day and opened the swing bridge for Valley Forge who was single handing. I see he is also now moored at Devizes Wharf.

Back to the present. Like a number of other bloggers on boats we had a wild night last night! Weather wise I mean. We had very high winds which even in the comparative shelter of the marina really rocked the boat. We also had a severe hail storm - the hail was coming down the chimney despite our "chinese hat". It was so noisy that I had to turn the volume up extremely high on the TV. We lost the satellite briefly but not enough to make me lose track of the plot of Taggart.

This evening is also rather windy, but we like to feel the movement of the boat so are not bothered and everything on the roof is safe, either tied down or too heavy to be blown off. However if it is windy here it will be even more so on the cut - luverly!

A Titanic Disaster?

Hot News! Tomorrow evening - Tuesday 8th January at 6 p.m.- one of Epiphany's "half-sisters" will be on the Telly. Animal Park, BBC2's nightly popular series from Longleat will include the boats that Colecraft built for them at the same time as they were fabricating ours. As the trailer says: "The first new tigers in 18 years are released into Longleat safari park, and Lord Bath takes the helm of two new boats on the lake. But will it end in a titanic disaster?"


Come to think of it, the picture above shows how easily Lord Bath's dreams could have been demolished by Epiphany, even before they were launched last April. You will see that the Bath tubs are on a slightly different scale to the narrowboat we are used to.



And if that connection wasn't enough, our Canal Boat magazine landed in our post box today, and there on the front cover is "Aethelburh" - Queen of Wessex. John and Barbara's lovely narrowboat was fitted out by Bath Narrowboats on a Colecraft shell, so she is a "younger sister" to Epiphany.

So the family grows. And its a Happy family too. The owners of Lordswood have started BNOA (pronounced "Be - Noah") - Bath Narrowboats Owners Association, and one of the benefits of belonging is a chance to meet up - owners and builders - at the Three Magpies on a Friday afternoon. We hope to be there this week, all being well.

The Epiphany Debate Goes On

Looking a blogs and websites recently there is a debate as to whether Twelfth Night is the 5th or 6th of January. We always observe Twelfth Night in the 5th, the evening technically is the time to take the decorations down (hence the name!). At midnight it becomes Epiphany. It all depends on the way you count the 12 days after Christmas! For a definitive answer look here

This brilliant website explains it all.

Epiphany then goes on for several weeks, depending on Ash Wednesday which is counted backwards from Easter. Easter is the "movable" feast and can be in March or April! Ash Wednesday is 40 days before (excluding Sundays), known as Lent. The same website explains how all these festivals link to each other.

It is amazing how the years have added details to the Epiphany story. There were 3 gifts but we are not told how many wise men. We are not told their names. The wise men have become Kings. One of these is now black and they represent the variation in nations.



The star is still a mystery, not a meteorite - too fast. What star appears to move and then stop? They followed it, seeing it first in Persia and then followed it West to Israel. There is no proof they came from the East.


Perhaps the simple story is enough. One day a baby was born, in humble circumstances who was destined to become the historical Jesus, a leader of men, a seeming rebel against the Jewish traditions. His teaching was to love God first and then our neighbour. He was willing to die for his beliefs and Christians believe on behalf of sinful humanity.

No wonder Epiphany is called a feast! As the Vicar said this morning when we told him the name of our boat, we have our own personal Feast Day. So we celebrated with Sunday lunch at the Horton Bridge Inn. They do the best 6X in the area so John reckons. The barrels behind the bar certainly look impressive! The food is very good too.

Nude Narrowboat

A busy day! As it is Twelfth Night we took down the Christmas decorations. The boat looks a bit bare now. Unfortunately this also highlighted the dust that had accumulated over the Christmas and New Year period.

So it was cleaning time - not quite a spring clean but nearly! Floors, steps, shelves, trims all have been cleaned. The one problem with a multi fuel stove is the amount of dust it creates. Mats in the stern shaken, beaten and scrubbed! We left the bows alone as the wood and coal are stored there during the winter, as is the ash bucket!

So now we are shattered! We thought about a 20 minute cruise up to the nearest pub for Sunday lunch but decided against it this weekend. If tomorrow is fine we will have to go for a walk to get some exercise. We both have excess pounds to shed after the last few weeks of indulgence.

You may have noticed that I have added a few photos to the slide show on the blog, including a photo of Twelfth Night, our previous narrowboat.

Tomorrow is Epiphany. In churches and homes around the land the wise men will arrive at the stable, bearing gifts.
They may have already been travelling down the church aisles, moving windows, from room to room, or may just have been hidden at the back of the church or room!

We used to involve the children and ask them to bring the figures to the nativity scene at the altar. The children also brought the gifts, gold, frankincense and myrrh. The symbolism of these precious gifts reflecting the life of the baby they set out to find. Gold for a King, Frankincense for life and Myrrh for death.

Which brings us to look forward to Easter - a holiday, but for many it has a deeper meaning too.

Countdown to Epiphany

Our should this post be entitled "count-up to Epiphany"?

Two more days until Epiphany. The festival on 6th January follows Twelfth Night on the 5th. Traditionally that is when we take down the Christmas decorations.

Cue the song too - "On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love sent to me........".


I never really thought about it before but even this seemingly fatuous song could have a deeper meaning! According to some it has a religious meaning. This is also an interesting source of information about the song and its associated tradition.

If you want to be truly erudite you may want to re-read this book. I say re-read, as many of you may have been forced to read it at school, when you either liked it or loathed it! Re-reading it as an adult brings a whole new meaning to our most famous playwright.

So why am I burbling on about Twelfth Night? Well this is "proof of the pudding" showing our logic in naming our narrowboat Epiphany. The festival of Epiphany follows Twelfth Night and so our new boat followed on from our previous boat, Twelfth Night!

I suppose too that I could also add a link between the song and canals. Well it does say "six geese" and "seven swans" and I suppose a "calling bird" could also be found on the cut! Now I have given you some clues see if you can do this!

So are you still following the star? - Very wise!

Epiphany

I suppose the season of Epiphany could be called "our season". The (Chambers English) dictionary definition of Epiphany is threefold:-
1. "a church festival celebrated on 6 Jan., in commemoration of the manifestation of Christ to the wise men of the East."
2. "the manifestation of a god."
3. "sudden revelation or insight into the nature, essence or meaning of something."
From the Greek epiphanea, appearance - epi, to, phainein, to show

To those who have found us accidentally by searching for information about the season of Epiphany we say "welcome". Sorry we cannot help with service ideas, food or other ideas to celebrate the festival. Please come back and follow our travels and experiences.

Those of our readers who have followed out blog or who have come from our website may know which definition applies to our Epiphany.

We certainly "celebrate" Narrowboat Epiphany's existence, definitely do not worship her as a god, but do believe that she is a gift allowing us to have an insight into the nature, essence and meaning of a new way of life.

There is a star on our bows so one could say that like the wise men we follow the star (sorry, corny!).
There is a star over the "i" at the stern - have you spotted that? Inside we have a star motif on our built in magazine rack and finally, the marble in the galley is called Galaxy - a happy spot by Jon Langley from Bath Narrowboats who fitted her out to our specification.

So although we do not have three wise men on board (and in any case, as the Archbishop of Canterbury pointed out, we don't know how may Magi there were) we do have one happy, relaxed man and one happy, relaxed (most of the time!) woman who will celebrate Epiphany on Epiphany.